Military exercises bring joint patrols closer

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Military exercises in the Timor Sea this week are the first step
towards joint Australian and Indonesian military patrols, Defence
Minister Robert Hill has revealed.

Senator Hill said he held "very positive" talks with Indonesia's
Defence Minister and military chiefs in Jakarta at the weekend over
accelerating defence links.

The joint air force exercise is the first since tensions during
the 1999 East Timor crisis. Senator Hill said a joint naval
exercise was planned this year and other operations would
follow.

Last week Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and
Prime Minister John Howard backed a possible new security treaty
and increased military links.

The Timor Sea has assumed strategic significance with the risk
of terrorist attacks against oil rigs. Australia has interests in
preventing people-smuggling and illegal fishing in the area.

The United States has suggested joint international naval
patrols in the region, with concerns about terrorists and pirates
in the Strait of Malacca between Indonesia and Malaysia.

Senator Hill said joint and co-ordinated patrols and
surveillance flights were "our ultimate hope and its something that
we've discussed. The purpose of the exercise is firstly to see if
we can do it effectively jointly and secondly an element of
continuing confidence-building between the two forces."

Moves towards joint security interests had "really started to
accelerate now", he said. Indonesia's political and military
leaders were "very positive" about joint or co-ordinated patrols,
he said.

The exercise, until week's end, involves concurrent maritime
surveillance by an Indonesian B737 aircraft and an RAAF AP-3C
Orion.